Columbus, MS 1/202/2024- The Westminster College women's basketball team continued their southern road trip on Saturday, taking on the Mississippi University for Women (MUW) in Columbus, Mississippi. The game would be tight in the first half, but the Blue Jays ran away in the second half, winning 84-53. Westminster improves to 8-9 on the season and 6-4 in the SLIAC, moving them to 4th place in the standings at the halfway mark of the conference season. MUW falls to 5-8 on the season and 4-5 in the SLIAC at the midway point.
Olivia Hixson started the game with a bang, hitting a three-pointer to give the Blue Jays an early 3-0 lead. The Owls would answer with a three of their own on their next possession to tie it. The Blue Jays would go up 8-3 after forcing MUW to turn the ball over, leading to a three from Chole Akerson. Westminster would extend their lead to 13-6. The Owls would close the gap at the end of the quarter, trailing 17-14 after the first quarter.
Both teams would continue to trade baskets in the second quarter. Whenever the Blue Jays looked to be pulling away, the Owls would answer to keep it close. Westminster would go to the half winning 34-31.
The Blue Jays would start the second half on a 21-6 run to take a commanding 55-37 lead with 3 minutes left in the third quarter. Westminster kept rolling on offense and ended the quarter up 59-41.
Westminster's offense would continue to hum, scoring 25 points in the fourth quarter, and defensively held MUW to 12 points to win the game 84-53.
Avylina Powell-Qualo led the Blue Jays offense, scoring a season-high 19 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. Annette Ramirez had 15 points and 7 rebounds for the Jays. Olivia Hixson had 9 points, going 3-3 from behind the three-point arc. Aly Bullock also scored 8 points off the bench.
The Blue Jays wrap up their road trip on Wednesday, January 24th when they travel to Greenville, Illinois to take on the Greenville University Panthers. The game is set to start at 5:30 PM.
